Wednesday, January 14, 2009

This great photograph reminded me of the first Michael Myers mask I ever owned. I was in a Sears department store during the Halloween season back in 85 or 86 and saw their mini Halloween "booth." They had mostly masks, but I remember other Halloween decorations and costume-related items being sold. I looked up and saw it - Don Post Studio's THE MASK. It was beautiful. I was nervous, excited, and scared. And horrified to see a sticker price of $39.99. Forty bucks was a HUGE sum back then. I remember walking around the mall and mentioning it to my mother. Trying to play down the price to her to make it sound like a bargain. A forty dollar piece of haired rubber must have seemed insane to a woman that didn't even watch horror movies. Not sure how it happened exactly, but she ended up saying something like "Well, it's YOUR money." I think I was in a hole for months after springing for that purchase, but it was worth it. I became The Shape in that mask. I decided to hand out candy dressed as Michael Audrey Myers from that point on. And haven't stopped since.

My mother didn't buy it for me, but boy did I appreciate that mask since forty of my own clams were sunk into it. Wish I could say she wanted to buy it for me, but refrained because she wanted me to learn the value of money, but I doubt it.

Latex has a short life to it and my mask looks a lot like this one now. Best $39.99 I ever spent though.Image source.Side note: My father asked me if he could borrow it for some stupid joke he was going to play on one of his friends. I remember feeling silly saying "No, it's my Michael Myers mask and I love it!" so I let him take it. Apparently, he tried to pull it over his head by inserting his fingers into the mouth and pulling downward (a gorilla would have known better). Being a few years old at that time and getting a little dried out and thin, the mask's entire lower lip down to the chin ripped off. He glue-gunned it back together to "fix" it, but it made me look like a giant ventriloquist dummy of Michael Myers. That was the last year I wore it. I felt like an idiot. Thankfully I found CemeteryGateProductions.com since Don Post no longer manufactured The Mask.

3
comments:

I remember putting on halloween makeup for the first time and going out as a skeleton. My mom pinned a paper skeleton decoration to the black clothes on my legs and arms and chest in all of the appropriate places after she carefully pulled apart the rivots. I still remember the way I looked before I went out trick or treating. I also remember the way I looked when I came back home...like uncle fester's fetus. Smeared makeup, patches of white on my cheeks, missing bones.

i was in the same situation back in around '86 or '87 with a mask that cost around $80. i had to circle the mall a few times before i finally got enough guts to buy it. but it was well worth it! now it sits flat in a clear plastic bag with my other two masks(that are on foam heads. dont want them to get worn out before their time like the other one)

This year I treated myself to the Blu-Ray edition of the original "Halloween," and was delighted to find the Michael Meyers mask was a pimped-out William Shatner as Captain Kirk mask.I love all these creative type people!